Sister, Sister: Al and El
by ariessam
Summary: "What I'm about to tell you will change all your beliefs about the world." No one outside of the Gilbert household knew or cared about the other sister. No one paid much attention to Elena Gilbert's twin. And when her parents die, Alana figures it's high time that she got away from those who didn't remember she existed.
1. Prologue

**The Runaway**

 _I need a break from it all  
Some space from it all for a minute  
I'm trying to make sense of it all  
This place is so unforgiving  
Wanting and waiting  
And somehow it's another winter  
Big plans and big dreams  
They're running out_

 ** _May 26, 2009 – Mystic Falls: Gilbert House_**

 _Dear El,_

 _By the time you read this I'll be gone._

 _Gosh, that sounds horrible. Lemme rephrase that._

 _By the time you read this I'll probably be somewhere in Alabama or some random place like that. I know, I know. Why the hell am I skipping town now of all times – because let's face it, this was a long time coming._

 _Well – I'm just not as strong as you El. And even if I was this town loves you. Mom and Dad loved you. Jen loves you. Jer loves you – although it is debatable whether or not he loves me more . . ._

 _The point_ _is: You belong here. You actually fit into this stupid town with its constant parties and fundraising events. You have friends on a freaking cheerleading team for God's sake. You have that wonderful boyfriend who loves you so much. You go to all your classes and do all the little good girl things._

 _Stop shaking your head, I'm not trying to be patronizing._

 _Look. I know you and Jer will miss me tons and that this is a really, really, really bad time to put my travel plans into action. But I just have to get out._

 _Not fair. I know. Just . . . hang tough._

 _I know you El. You're the strong one and that's what this family needs right now. Not the crazy, sarcastic, go-where-she-pleases girl that never fit in. Yeah, yeah. I know. I could have fit in like you seeing as I'm so awesome and all – but I didn't. And that's all water under the bridge and all that._

 _So don't worry about me. I'll probably just do some soul searching and then end up right back in Mystic Falls in no time. It'll be like I never left._

 _I'll be fine and whatever._

 _I'm not writing this cause I want you to send out a search party or anything. Let's face it; no one will really care anyways._

 _I want you to promise me something. . . . Promise me that you'll hold down the fort. And that you'll look after Jer and make sure that he doesn't go off the deep end. Promise me that, okay. I don't want to return to the remains of a burnt down house or anything._

 _And don't forget to look after yourself. I know how self-sacrificing you can be._

 _Always and forever,_

 _Al_

 _P.S.: It wasn't your fault so stop feeling guilty._

Alana Serena Gilbert dropped the blue ballpoint pen she was holding onto the desk with a small sigh. She stared at the sloppily written letter before her until her vision turned a little blurry at the edges. Blinking to clear her vision, she then picked up the innocent white paper and folded it in half before carefully sliding it into a crisp, neon envelope. The only thing written on the front was the name Elena Serena Gilbert scrawled in her careless cursive.

She sealed the letter shut with a finality that scared her. It was like the closing of a casket. This was it, no turning back, it was all over now. She imagined that this was probably what it felt like to write a will, only she wasn't dying. Just leaving – or maybe escaping would be a better word.

Alana almost laughed at the formality of it all – a signed letter in careless cursive on heavy stationery. 'Almost' being the key word. But really, this was no laughing matter.

After all, not many people would even think to run away from perfect Mystic Falls. It was all high class and Forest of Eden-like – who in their right mind would ever think to leave?

Well . . . maybe Vicki Donavan, but that girl was messed up bad – like drug usage to the point of rehab bad. Thinking on it now, though, Alana was sure that people would actually notice if Vicki Donavan just up and vanished. There'd be search parties and pictures put on milk cartons and all that stuff. Sure she was a messed up kid who was a blemish on the perfect façade of the town – but she was a blemish with a super awesome brother that was well known and well liked.

And Alana sure as hell wasn't Vicki Donavan.

Not many people would care or even notice if she left. And not because she didn't have really cool siblings that loved and cared for her – but because she was invisible.

The unnoticed sibling.

Maybe it was because Elena was more outgoing than her. Or maybe it was because Elena was all about town spirit and getting to know people and making friends. Or maybe it was because they looked exactly alike that no one seemed to care to try and differentiate between them. Whatever reason there was, of one thing Alana was sure.

The majority of Mystic Falls believe there was only one Gilbert girl – and that was Elena.

Alana wasn't torn up about it.

Much.

She had learned to stop caring a long time ago, a very long time ago.

Vaguely she could recall the first time it became obvious to her that she was invisible.

It had been when she was in seventh grade and had broken her leg climbing a tree. She had missed an entire week of school and no one, not even the teachers, had noticed her absence. At first, Alana had thought it was an accident or maybe everyone was in on some cosmic joke or whatever.

And then she started noticing how everyone referred to her as Elena more often than Alana. It was like overnight they had forgotten her name and was now struggling to remember it – which was ridiculous seeing as she had been walking around on crutches and Elena clearly hadn't been.

It hadn't bothered Alana all that much at first. Their names sounded so much alike that it could have been a simple slip-up. But then she started noticing that it wasn't a mistake. People honestly believed she was her sister. That's when Alana made a startling discovery.

The town believed the twin Gilbert sisters were one person: Elena Gilbert.

It was like they had merged bodies and Elena had won out. It was highly unfair seeing as she was the older twin, even if only by a couple of minutes. But in a way, it was kind of her fault for not correcting the problem when it first emerged. She hadn't cared enough, though. She had thought that it was just going to blow over and then later on in life, she could just look back on it and laugh.

However, it didn't change.

At first, Alana had been furious. What right did they have to just erase her out of existence? She ranted and raved for days and her family had been rightfully angry with her, but there had been nothing they could do. They could talk about Alana until they were blue in the face and people would just look at them and assume they meant Elena.

Slowly over time, it stopped bothering Alana. It kind of became a game. Whenever someone called her Elena, she would just nod her head and pretended to be Elena – then referred all the information back to the real Elena so she wasn't left feeling confused when someone brought up something she should know.

Elena went along with it only because Alana asked her not to make it a big deal.

Soon, the act became a routine – kind of like how an actor would feel when they played a certain character for so long that it was almost like they were that character.

And Alana was simply resigned to the fact that she did not exist.

In the comfort of her house, locked away in her room, Alana would dream about the time when everything was different.

She would remember when she was the one that was friends with Bonnie and Caroline, way back when she and Elena had acted exactly alike. The sibling girls had shared the same interest, did the same things, and dressed identically, the way young twins usually behaved. She would pretend to be Elena and Elena pretend to be her. Everyone had learned to call them Gilbert so that they wouldn't have to figure out which girl they were talking to.

Maybe that had been the start of the problem.

They had been so alike that they even spoke at the same time and said the same things. They had been one person for so long that when Alana began getting interested in different things and dressing a different way, no one had noticed – because Elena still existed. Maybe if she and Elena had changed at the exact same time people would still notice her.

Whatever the reason had been, no one cared much now.

It had been years since the name Alana had been mentioned outside of the house by anyone besides Jeremy – who hadn't been too keen on the idea of his favorite sister being pushed aside. But no one really paid Jeremy much attention either. He was just Elena's kind of crazy little brother.

"At least he's remembered even if only slightly," Alana muttered a bit bitterly to herself. With a small sigh, she shook the thoughts away. It was pointless to linger on them. In the next hour, she'd be out of this stupid town anyways.

Leaning back in her chair and stretching out her arms, Alana took in her room. Everything was cast in the shadow her little desk light made and she could barely make out the faces of the frozen people in her many posters.

Alana stared at them blankly for a moment, thinking about what she was about to do next. The feeling of intense loss crept into her chest, making it ache a little.

Suddenly, she pushed the feeling aside and began to tear her room apart, dumping all her worldly possessions into a large box. She had already packed up everything she believed she would need for this impromptu little trip. Everything that was left, she was deciding to store away.

It took her a total of thirty minutes, give or take a few, to have everything packed up. Little by little she disappeared from the one place that remembered her until no trace of her was left. When Alana was done, the room looked like what it had started out as – a guest room. Alana was sure Aunt Jenna would take the room. After all, her aunt had to be feeling a little creeped out sleeping in the room that had belonged to her dead sister and brother-in-law.

Smiling a little grimly at her work, Alana plucked up the box and then moved to remove herself from the remainder of the house. It would not do to have little random things depressing her remaining family reminding them of her quick departure.

So one by one, Alana visited every room in the house, removing everything that showed she had ever been there – like a robber stealing away precious memories. Away went the thick wooly blanket Grandma Gilbert had knitted her. Gone was the gleaming first place trophy from her spelling bee days. She even packed away her favorite coffee cup that was sculpted in the shape of Snoopy's head.

She left Elena's room for last.

Elena's room was cast into total darkness – her room facing the back of the house and away from the glowing rays of the moonlight. Alana wasn't all that surprised to see her sister passed out on her bed and drooling all over her pillow. In the last couple of days, Elena had taken full advantage of the pain meds she had been given after the accident – using them to help induce a sleep with no dreams.

Alana had been furious when she had found out. It hadn't been a very pleasant argument, but then again they had all been a little on edge lately. Tonight, however, Alana was grateful for Elena's bad habit. It just made sneaking around all the easier.

For a moment, though, all Alana could do was stand in the middle of the room and look around sadly.

This had been the room she had shared with Elena growing up – at least until the divergence took place and Alana had demanded her own room. It hadn't been because she wanted to be away from Elena. No, it had been because she didn't want Elena to feel bad about inviting Bonnie and Caroline over. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now, however, standing inside this room and knowing what she was about to do . . . she kind of felt dirty.

Who was she to take away the memories they had made together? The little stick figures they had drawn together on their first day of kindergarten. The plastic rings from their eight birthday party. The stupid plastic tiara with pink fur Alana had given Elena for Christmas one year.

Shaking the guiltiness away, Alana steeled herself and set to work. She felt like the Grinch, stealing away all of Elena's happiness, but it had to be done. Alana took everything that was hers, everything except a single picture of her and Elena when they were three and the charm bracelet they had bought for each other on their sixteenth birthday – the last birthday they had shared with their parents.

Almost as if it was an apology, Alana placed a long box with a white bow on top next to Elena's head. The little card attached proclaimed: Happy Birthday El.

The rest of the stuff that Alana took, she threw into three boxes before sealing them up and storing them in the very back of the attic – unmarked.

She didn't feel right doing it and she was sure she would regret it later, like when she came back and had to unpack all that stuff again. But in this very moment, she didn't think she'd ever come back and leaving them in their original places would have been just plain cruel.

With a heavy sigh, Alana gathered her things and turned to leave.

The last thing she did before she disappeared into the night, was to remove from her key ring her copy of the house key – the one she got printed with purple and black polka dots – and placed it on top of the letter she left on Elena's bedside table.

And then she was gone from quaint Mystic Falls, not even taking a second glance back.

' _Cause I'm running away,  
Running away  
I gotta do it_

 _Make my escape from this world I've been living in  
Nothing's holding me down  
I'm leaving this town  
I gotta do it_

 _Deep down I know  
That as long as I stay true,  
It doesn't matter where I'm running to_

 _Jesse McCartney – Running Away_


	2. Chapter 1

**The Birthday**

 _They say that home is where the heart is_

 _I guess I haven't found my home_

 _And we keep driving round in circles_

 _Afraid to call this place our own_

 _Ingrid Michaelson – Are We There Yet_

 ** _June 22, 2010 – Mystic Falls: Gilbert House_**

Elena Gilbert lay in her bed, covers drawn up to her chin and her gaze directed at the tiny bit of wall beside her vanity. She had been awake for about five minutes, staring blankly at the corner as if it were going to give her 'the mystery to life.'

It took her a minute to realize that she wasn't actually staring at a blank wall but was instead looking at a pretty gold necklace that was hanging from a tack in the very corner. A thin stream of sunlight that escaped from a slit in the curtains hit the necklace, throwing off sparkles of golden light and glittery rainbows from the faux diamonds embedded in a swirling design around the locket.

With a jolt, Elena remembered who had given her the necklace and the picture of the two identical girls who were shown inside it.

 _You're the strong one_.

The words echoed in her head as if summoned from within the locket itself. With startling clarity, Elena realized what she was doing and her face twisted in disgust.

Was she actually lying there wallowing in pity and depression? What was she, some kind of depressed Bella Swan cut out?

"Come on Elena. You're better than this."

With the self-pep talk and the scary image of what Alana would do to her if she was there, Elena got purposefully out of bed. It was a new day and it was time she faced it instead of wallowing around like some pinning drama queen.

 _That's the spirit. Up and at em!_

However, ten minutes later, she was already feeling drained – and she hadn't even had her morning coffee yet. Not that it would help much with the way she had been feeling for the past three months.

Shaking herself, Elena tried to pay more attention to the person she was talking to on her cell phone. She was walking toward the kitchen with the phone pressed to her ear when the words vibrating against her eardrums from the receiver caused her legs to stop responding.

"My mom wants you to call her," Caroline Forbes was saying, almost as an afterthought. Sometimes Elena wondered if Caroline realized how the information she passed on affected the people she gave them to.

"Did she find something," Elena questioned after a slight pause.

"An animal attack in Memphis," Caroline confirmed. "It's the third one this week in Tennessee."

"And you're _sure_ it's a vampire?" Elena's eyes flickered upward and locked onto those of Alaric Saltzman. The bedraggled man looked up from where he was fiddling with the coffee maker, a question in his blue eyes.

Elena broke the gaze, ignoring him for the moment to focus on her phone conversation.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that it's Klaus."

"Doesn't mean it's not," Elena scoffed, moving further into the kitchen. She slid behind Alaric, patting him on the shoulder until he moved away from the coffee maker. Shaking her head at him, she pressed the big red button glowing on the front of it.

Alaric shrugged and moved sheepishly back into the living room where he pretended not to pay too much attention to Elena's conversation.

"I'll call her," Elena told Caroline, leaning back against the countertop.

"Well call her on her cell."

"Tell her thank you for her help."

"Alright. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you in a bit."

"Oh! Caroline, wait," Elena interrupted before Caroline could hang up. She shifted in unease, thinking about what the blonde vampire probably had planned for her. "Just . . ." Elena sighed. "Keep tonight small," she requested. "Please."

"Wear something pretty," Caroline said by way of answer and then swiftly hung up before her friend could plead some more. Elena sighed again, staring at the phone for a minute before sliding it into her back pocket.

"Was that – uh – Stefan news," Alaric questioned casually.

Elena sighed, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately, and moved to open the cabinet nearest to her to pull out a coffee mug and a travel cup.

"Could be more Klaus victims," she responded.

"You certain Stefan's still with him?"

"Easy to be certain when the alternative is that he's dead."

Elena looked up from where she was pouring them both coffee and saw the pensive look on Alaric's face. Looking at him now, like this, she could see that he was more messed up than she had realized. His hair was sticking up in a couple of places, there were dark smudges under his eyes, and Elena couldn't even remember the last time he had shaved.

"Are you sure—" she paused and bit down on her lip before trying again. "You're still okay on the couch?"

The question sounded awkward to her own ears. She chewed it over in her head as she watched him fold up the comforter he used every night.

"Yeah," he said quickly – too quickly to be true. He seemed to realize this because he continued by saying, "Yeah, I'm good," as if that would make Elena believe him more.

"Because you spent half the summer on it," Elena said gently as she picked up both the cups and crossed the threshold separating the kitchen from the living room. "If you need your own bedroom . . ." she trailed off, waving the closed travel cup toward the stairs.

"Yeah, sleeping in your dead parents' room," he said with a disgusted noise and a small shudder before continuing in a softer tone. "Or my dead – girlfriend's room. Nah."

Elena wanted to press the subject but he looked so lost for a moment that she left it alone. Instead, she handed him the mug with a strained smile. "Alright. Got it."

Alaric sighed in clear relief, taking the cup from her and watching as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Elena," he called, stopping her as she was gathering her things to head out. He opened his mouth to say something then seemed to think better of it and instead said, "Happy Birthday."

Elena's entire face dropped and in her mind a million faces flashed, freezing on one that looked exactly like hers but with a sarcastic smile. Blinking the images away, Elena grimaced and whispered a thanks before leaving.

Once outside, Elena paused for a moment, glancing down at her key ring where sat a single key covered in black and purple polka dots.

"Happy Birthday, Alana," she whispered to the key, stroking it slowly with her thumb.

* * *

 **Welcome to**

MYSTIC FALLS

VIRGINIA

Population: 6925

Alana Gilbert stared blankly at the rustic sign before her, a corpus amount of emotions rolling throughout her body.

She was a good thirty minutes outside of town, but she had stopped at the sign, staring at it as memories of the night she had left it behind without a backward glance swooped over her. It was stupid to be sentimental, she knew that. But it was hard when she was returning to a place she thought she'd never see again.

She hadn't been too keen on coming home, not so soon anyway. She still felt a little disconnected from the place. But there was something she had to do – kind of like a promise she had to fulfill.

It had taken her a while to decide on doing this. At first, she had been reluctant to leave behind the nice little apartment she shared with a guy she liked to call Blade.

Blade, the irritatingly sympathetic and compassionate man that he was, had thought that it was a good idea. And Alana had learned real quickly that Blade was always right. It was funny how easy it was to trust Blade, but then again when a man saves your life it's hard _not_ to learn to trust him.

Blade's real name was Andrew Jacobs and he was a psychology major down on his luck and living in one of the shadier parts of New York City. About a week after Alana had left Mystic Falls, it was this city where she had ended up. Everything had been cool at first; Alana had basked in the excitement of it all. She had flirted with the romance of traveling the country with just the clothes on her back and her considerable savings.

Reality had come to her entirely too soon for her liking and in the form of a couple of men looking for a good time. They had cornered her in an alley somewhere in Far Rockaway and Alana had been rightfully scared out of her mind, thinking that she was going to be raped and killed.

That was how she had met her roommate for the next year. Blade had come to her rescue like a freaking superhero. He had defended her heroically with a tiny Swiss army knife – which is how Alana had come up with the name Blade.

And then he had taken her under his wing like the selfless man that he was.

At first, Alana had assumed Blade was going make some kind of move on her – what other hot-blooded twenty-year-old gave their home to a high school runaway. But Blade was a pretty decent guy. It also helped that he was very much gay and infatuated with some pretty boy in his Biology Lab.

Alana had lived with Blade ever since.

She wasn't one to mooch off of someone, so she worked a little to pay some of Blade's rent. But Blade was incredibly set in his ways and he believed she should be in school. They had come to some kind of compromise where she did a bunch of online classes and he tutored her in anything she had a problem with.

Of course, Blade had given Alana some intense self-defense classes that somehow or another morphed into kickboxing lessons. As a thank you, Alana had dropped Blade a good amount of money, which the man then went and bought two motorcycles with.

It was practically impossible to give the guy anything because he always seemed to pay her back tenfold.

The sudden cawing of a crow overhead jolted Alana from her thoughts. She blinked vaguely and found herself still staring up at the sign that marked the border of Mystic Falls.

She didn't want to cross it. If anything, she wanted to turn her bike around and run right back to New York. But Blade would never let her live it down if she returned without completing her task and he would be insufferable to live with after that – at least that's what Alana told herself was the reason she was returning.

If anything, she could mail the thing it – she would still be keeping her promise.

Heaving a deep sigh, Alana lifted her leg, slamming it down on the nifty little device that had her motorcycle roaring to life. Revving the engine just for the hell of it, Alana pushed her bike forward and then was speeding off to the town she had once called home.

 _You're so brave sometimes, Alana._

* * *

By the time night fell, Elena felt like she had been stretched way too thin.

All day she kept feeling like she was going to lose it – like she was suddenly going to break into a million-trillion tiny pieces. The constant anxiety that bubbled within her was tiring and Elena wished she could just go to sleep and never wake up. Just sleep all day and dream about happier times – like when her parents were alive and Alana was still around.

But she couldn't because everyone was expecting her to put on a smile and act excited that today was her eighteenth birthday, even though the most important person was missing and Elena's life had literally turned into a long, never-ending nightmare.

It almost made Elena laugh.

It was hard to think that just this time last year she had been mourning the loss of her parents and the sudden disappearance of Alana. And here she was one year later in the exact same place with the exact same problems, only a thousand times worse because more names had been added to the list of lost loved ones.

It was funny how much crap could happen in just one year.

Sighing, Elena ran her hands down the white lace of her dress, looking at herself in the mirror and wondering if she looked as different as she felt. The candles that were lit all around the room threw everything into stark contrast. The dim light glinted off her charm bracelet. Fiddling with a charm of a little cat, Elena thought about Alana.

She wondered if Alana came back, would they finally look like two separate people. Would Alana even recognize her? Elena felt like she had been thrown into a machine that had rearranged and changed her until she was but a shade of the person she used to be.

A movement in her peripheral had her looking up and meeting the electric blue eyes of one Damon Salvatore. He was standing in the doorway of Stefan's room, leaning against the frame and watching her with that expectant look – the one that asked 'Are you going to break down now or should I wait a few minutes?'

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna lose it," Elena lied, turning around so that she was looking at him instead of his reflection. Feeling just the tiniest bit guilty about the lie she added, "At least not before the cake."

Damon shrugged at her words, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Hey. It's your party. You can cry if you want to," he said in his oh-so-nonchalant way.

Elena couldn't help the slight giggle that escaped her. It was just like Damon to insert some clique that fit the situation. For a moment the stupid song played in her head and Elena imagined her and Alana dancing to the music like a bunch of crazy rave people.

Elena blinked the picture away just as Damon pushed off from the door, entering the room and looking around at all the stuff gathered around.

"Ah, Stefan," he said, sounding like an exasperated mother. "Such a pack rat."

Elena watched his progress around the room silently, trying not to pay attention to the way his jeans rode low on his hips. Her heart leaped into her throat when he picked up the picture of her and Stefan. For a fleeting moment, Elena wondered if he was going to break it. But the moment passed and Damon was putting the photo gently back in its place.

"I got you something," Damon admitted suddenly stepping toward her. Elena sighed, opening her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "I know I promised not to buy you anything, so don't worry; I didn't pay for it."

"You stole it," Elena demanded incredulously. She knew Damon was a lot of things but a thief . . .

"No," he told her, sounding rightfully offended. He pulled a jewelry box out of the back pocket of his jeans and popped open the lid. "Found it."

Elena looked down and a small gasp escaped her when she eyed the Celtic locket nestled against the fabric inside the box.

"My necklace," she whispered, moving her gaze from the familiar pendant to look Damon in the eyes. The intensity she found there had her heart tripping for a minute. It was easy when he was like this to picture herself falling in love with him. The thought had her stuttering and she looked back at the pendant.

"I-I thought I'd never see it again."

"Alaric found it in his loft. Figured you'd be happy to get it back." A smile tugged at Elena's lips – a real smile this time. Damon could just be so sweet sometimes.

"I am happy," she told him, lifting the pendant from the box. It felt almost heavy in her hand. A reminder of what was missing. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Elena looked up at Damon's face again, her eyes locked on his. An intense sort of feeling seemed to pass from him to her and it frightened Elena. It was an effort to tear her gaze away, but she did it, wishing in her mind that Damon was just her friend.

Why couldn't life be simpler?

It was her fault, she knew. She shouldn't have kissed him when she had thought he was dying. But she had wanted to do something nice for him in his last moments, kind of like what he had done for Rose.

 _That's no excuse for a pity kiss, Elena_.

In an effort to break the tense silence that had fallen, Elena held up her necklace.

"Can you?"

"Oh, absolutely," Damon agreed readily, slipping the now empty box back into his back pocket. He took the necklace from her hands, and slowly clasped it around her thin neck, his hands trailing over her skin. It settled in place, the pendant cold and heavy on Elena's skin.

Before the situation could get any more awkward, Damon held out his arm like a dapper gentleman and asked in an almost mocking manner, "Shall we?"

Elena took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to compose herself. She hooked her arm through Damon's and allowed the vampire to lead her from the room to her doom . . . err . . . to her party.

Elena could already hear the music playing on the ground floor and she had only just passed the threshold of Stefan's door. The music practically thrummed beneath her feet, vibrating up her legs, and resonating in her chest.

As she walked carefully down the second flight of stairs, Elena's eyes widened.

Every inch of the house was crawling with people.

Elena was pretty sure she didn't even _know_ this many people. But they all seemed to know her if the many "Happy birthday, Elena" that she received were any clue.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Damon let go of Elena suddenly, his arm shooting out to grab hold of a bottle of liquor a girl walking by was cradling.

"You don't want that," he told her, looking deep into her eyes as he tapped the cap of the bottle. "You want the cheap young stuff over by the cheap young people." Damon smiled tightly and the girl stared blankly at him in a compelled daze before nodding and walking away with her friends.

"You like," a voice questioned and Elena watched with mild irritation as Caroline pushed her way over toward them. She looked a pretty picture dressed up in a little black summer dress. Elena grimaced at her and Caroline backtracked. "Don't answer that," she said.

"This is keeping it small," Elena demanded in a strained voice, looking out over the crowd of practical strangers and feeling a little nauseous. She shifted her gaze back to Caroline to see the blonde beaming up at her hopefully.

Sighing Elena decided to bite the bullet on this one. She would have felt enormously guilty if she was the one to wipe that excited smile from Caroline's face.

"What are we drinking," she asked with a roll of her eyes and Caroline smiled before grabbing Elena's wrist and then whisking her away.

* * *

Alana whistled cheerfully as she navigated the streets of Mystic Falls, her favorite leather jacket thrown casually over her shoulder. Her messenger bag, filled with things that she would never leave hanging around, thumped comfortably against her side with every step. The heels of her combat boots clicked rhythmically against the pavement, almost echoing around her in the silence that fell over the town.

Night had fallen quickly, a sign that said she needed to do what she had come here to do and vamoose. The air was stiff with heat and her arms felt sticky with sweat. In a way, this was all kind of comforting and familiar. The thick heady air of Virginia. The quiet of a town that fell silent with the fall of the sun. The cheery atmosphere of a close niche.

It was all so nostalgic and it left a lump in Alana's throat. She was surprised to find that she actually _missed_ Mystic Falls.

Surprise, surprise.

But maybe that's what happens when a person comes back to the place where they grew up, no matter how much they came to despise that place. And it had been fun roaming around town today, pretending to be Elena. It was also surprisingly easy, but then again, she knew Elena so well that it probably would always be easy. It was kind of like slipping into a pair of well-worn jeans.

Nodding her head along to the beat she had in her mind and tapping out the rhythm on her thigh, Alana wondered for a moment if she should crash the party Caroline Forbes had been raving about in the Grill today. It should be kind of fun to see how Elena had decided to celebrate the wonderful age of eighteen.

A sharp pain spiked through Alana at the thought, however, and she quickly shook it away. Really, by now she should have completely gotten over the fact that no one really missed her.

 _I miss you, Alana. I'll always miss you._

Sighing longingly, Alana turned the corner and suddenly found herself standing at the end of her street. For a moment she just stood there, looking down the darkened road that twisted off into the distance.

The houses were lined up in neat little rows like a stack of gingerbread houses. All the homes were specially made with minute details that separated them from their neighbors. One house, Alana knew, had roses carved into their steps. She spent one summer babysitting the kid that lived there.

Lined up together like this and sitting in the dark the houses all looked vaguely similar, but Alana grew up on this street. She could easily pick out which house was hers through the gloom.

The Gilbert house was the only house with pillars holding up the awning over the long porch. Even though Alana was standing at the end of the street, she could see it clearly in her mind's eye. The white paint that had turned off-white with age. The bushes that sat pressed up against the porch. The steps that lead up to the house painted a calming deep green. The single door made of dark oak and carved intricately. The chairs that sat underneath the front windows with its green shutters.

Alana felt homesick.

She smiled bitterly as memories swarmed her. They flashed across her eyes.

The first time Jeremy had a drink and threw up all over the lawn.

That time she, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline had had that tea party.

The one time when Aunt Jenna had stopped by and they had tackled her in the yard.

The time Elena found an abandoned cat and it had scratched their dad in the face.

Shaking the memories away, Alana started making her way down the street once more. She approached the house like a person would approach a rabid animal. All the while she kept a watchful eye out, making sure no one noticed her lurking around the Gilbert house. The lights were all out except the one over the porch, signaling that no one was home.

Perfect.

As Alana walked up the four steps leading to the porch, she reached for her key ring before suddenly remembering that she no longer owned the key to this house.

"Nice going Alana," she mumbled to herself, mentally palming her forehead. Sighing she stared at the front door, her eyes tracing the swirling pattern in the wood before she turned away from it.

It was lucky that she knew this house well.

Meaning she knew exactly how to break in. So with a couple of acrobatic moves she never really knew she could do and the artful skill of being able to jimmy open any lock, Alana was tumbling into the silent house with a feeling of triumph.

Standing up, Alana looked around Jeremy's darkened room vaguely as she absently dusted her clothes off. She couldn't really make out much in the dark, but then again this wasn't a leisure visit. Grinning almost manically, Alana slipped out of the room and set to work.

* * *

Elena stared blankly down at Alana's key, twisting it between her fingers as loneliness and longing swirled inside her body. She never used the key, but she held on to it with the thought that Alana would be back soon. She had promised – sort of.

It was stupid to miss Alana this much. It wasn't like she was dead or anything. But, like with Stefan, it hurt to know that Alana was somewhere out there in the world and Elena had no idea what was going on with her. Was she happy? Was she doing anything important? Had she found someone to take care of her?

The not knowing was gnawing away at Elena until she was just left feeling exhausted.

And then there was Stefan.

That was a whole other can of worms.

Just thinking about him and the stuff Damon had told her a while ago . . . it had tears welling up in her eyes.

But Elena knew.

She had a feeling deep down in her heart that Stefan – _her_ Stefan – was still out there.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Elena inserted her own key into the door, twisting it open and stepping inside. Her head was pounding furiously even though she had only had a little bit to drink.

Maybe Caroline was right and she really should just get on with her life.

 _You know you've sunk low if you're taking advice from Caroline._

A shuffling sound from the living room drew Elena's attention and she turned, looking on in confusion as Alaric stuffed clothes into a large bag.

"What are you doing," Elena demanded softly and she couldn't help the hurt that filtered into her voice.

Alaric sighed. "I'm not going to stay here anymore." He said it so quietly that it almost sounded like an afterthought.

Elena wanted to pretend like she hadn't heard him.

"What?"

Alaric turned so that he could look at her. His weary eyes roamed her face, taking in her stunned expression, before drifting away again.

"Why," Elena wanted to know.

"I'm not a role model. You know." Alaric admitted, sounding as if he was disappointed to be saying the words. He shook his head and lifted his arms before dropping them. "I drink too much. I-I say the wrong things. I encourage bad behavior." He turned, breathing deeply before he started gathering his things again. "At school I can pull it together, but in my own life – what with the way I miss Jenna, I just, I'm really not any good to anybody, right now."

Elena watched on in stunned silence as Alaric threw the strap of his satchel over his shoulder, grabbed his overnight bag, and then headed for the door. Before he could leave, he turned to face her once more.

"I'm sorry Elena." And he did sound truly apologetic. "You're eighteen. You can do all this alone now. You can do it better without me."

With those parting words, Alaric walked out the door and it slammed shut behind him.

Elena watched him go, a feeling of finality clutching at her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes threatening to spill over. Her hands closed painfully around her key ring and for the first time since her twin had left she wished desperately that Alana would come back home.

Alana who claimed that Elena was the strong one.

Alana who was the one who was actually stronger.

Alana who knew just what to say when things were bleak and who always made a bleak situation suddenly bright.

* * *

The sound of the front door slamming jolting Alana into attention, her heart in her throat. She rubbed blearily at her eyes, looking around for a moment in confusion. It took her a moment to remember where she was, but after catching sight of her reflection in what was clearly Elena's mirror it all hit her like a gust of wind.

Cursing her stupidity for actually falling asleep, Alana hurriedly snatched up her bag while simultaneously jamming her feet into her shoes. She had meant to only lie down for a moment and reminisce, but clearly, her body was more tired that she had thought.

Moving silently now as the situation caught up with her, Alana looked around in panic and then crept over to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that connected Elena's room to Jeremy's. She froze inside the bathroom, her hand hovering over the doorknob. Her brain caught up with her actions and she strained her ears. It came to her slowly, the quiet little snuffling that Jeremy only made when he was in a deep sleep.

Cursing again, Alana backtracked, hoping and praying that Elena wouldn't suddenly decide to show up. She was in luck and she managed to slip silently out into the hallway. She squinted in the sudden light that was drifting up from downstairs, and her eyes made out that the hallway was empty. Tip-toeing now, she moved past the staircase, glancing down it. She could make out the white of Elena's lace dress just at the edge of the railing.

Well, that just made things harder.

In her mind Alana pictured the house, mentally going over all of the escape routes. There wasn't many short of climbing out of a window. And really, been there done that, shot the cop. Her sudden attempt at acrobatics only went so far. Sighing, Alana leaned against the staircase, trying to come up with a plan.

In that moment the sound of quiet sobbing drifted up to her ears.

Elena.

Alana's heart clenched in her chest and the deep seeded need to help and protect her twin leaped to the forefront of her mind. She knew she would be unable to leave without at least making sure Elena was feeling alright. Her sibling bond wouldn't allow it, never mind her twin bond.

Resigned to her fate, Alana moved past the staircase and slipping into her parents' room. She would stay for at least another hour before going to check on Elena – and then she was out of old Mystic Falls.

It was a boring wait, filled with anxiety as Alana's mind came up with a million ridiculous reasons for why her twin had been crying.

To distract herself, Alana moved vaguely around the room.

She could tell that someone, probably Elena or Aunt Jenna, had cleaned up a little. The stuff Alana normally saw was gone. Like her mother's jewelry box or her dad's tie that usually hung off the door. Gone were the shoes that used to clutter the floor of the closet. Gone was her mother's sash for when she won the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Gone was her father's collection of watches. Gone was the neat row of lipstick her mother wore.

Even the smell of them was gone from the room. The room was stale, stiff like no one had been in it for a long time.

It was a sobering thought and it hit Alana now like a two-ton train.

That had been her mistake in leaving. Like the little coward she was, Alana had run away from the memories and the mourning. She had run away from the idea that her parents would no longer be around. She had run away from her grieving family and the crippling loss.

It wasn't healthy, but then again, Alana had never claimed to be healthy.

Sighing, Alana turned to look at the clock that was still hanging on the wall over the bed. She nearly jumped when she saw it. Almost two hours had passed.

"Huh, guess time flies when you're wallowing in depression," she muttered to herself in a sarcastic tone.

Silent as a mouse, Alana slipped from the room and back down the hall. She stopped in front of Elena's door, shifting nervously for a moment. The lights were off inside and she couldn't hear any movement from behind the door, so it was safe to assume that Elena was asleep. But how deep was her sleep?

"Either you go in there or you leave."

The sound of her own voice rang loud in her ears and for a moment Alana thought that someone had heard her. A quick look around showed nothing, however. Shaking the paranoia away, she turned back to the task at hand. Twisting the knob slowly, she pushed the door open and poked her head inside.

Elena was asleep in the bed, the comforter pulled up to under her chin. Seeing Elena like this brought back memories of the numerous times Alana would sneak in here in the dead of the night and rouse her sister so that they could chat. It was during those times that Alana lets Elena see how much she was suffering in this town.

Alana grimaced at the reminder before she slipped fully into the room and tip-toed over to the bed. Elena was breathing deeply, her mouth partly open. There were tear tracks still on her face which meant that she had probably cried herself to sleep.

Alana frowned at that and her twin-instincts kicked up to full notch. She didn't think too hard about her next action. Slipping out of her shoes and placing her bag carefully on the floor, Alana nudged her way under Elena's blanket.

Elena reflectively moved to accommodate her and her eyes fluttered open a little. Alana froze, thinking Elena had woken up – especially when the younger twin turned over so that she was facing Alana.

"Al," Elena whispered, her eyes fluttering shut again.

"Shh," Alana whispered back, trying to keep her panic from showing. Luckily enough, Elena simply smacked her lips and then snuggled down into her pillows once more.

Alana visibly relaxed, leaning back against the headboard. She lifted her hand and started combing her fingers through Elena's hair, allowing the mundane action to lull her sister into a deeper sleep – like she had done in the past when Elena had had nightmares and vice versa.

"Al, I miss you so much," Elena whispered suddenly, but her voice sounded dreamy, like she wasn't aware of the words she was saying.

"I miss you too, El," Alana told her soothingly, and she smiled a little as she played with Elena's hair.

"When are you coming back? I _need_ you here. Please come back. Please. . . ."

Everything in Alana froze and for a moment she didn't know what to say. But she didn't need to say anything because Elena had fallen right back into a deep sleep.

Sighing, Alana stayed there for a moment and allowed herself to bask in her twin's presence.


	3. Chapter 2

I should be fair and tell you that I'll be following the show up until a point. Where that point will be . . . well, not even I'm completely sure about that. Also, fair warning, all relationships that aren't already established will take some time to catch flame so . . . please be patient with me. I'm not one to just have people jumping in the bed with each other - Especially not Damon who so has feelings for Elena right now. Just saying.

* * *

 **Smells like Teen Spirit**

 _She lives in a fairy tale_

 _Somewhere too far for us to find_

 _Forgotten the taste and smell_

 _Of a world that she's left behind_

 _Paramore – Brick By Boring Brick_

 _September 6, 2012 – Mystic Falls: Mystic High School_

The sleek 2004 Ducati motorcycle slid smoothly into a parking space at the front of the school, the rumbling engine turning off in the next second. A few heads turned to get a good look at the rider, who was clearly female what with the long chestnut hair that stopped just under her ribcage and curvy body clad in leather.

The girl smoothly removed her helmet, placing it on the back seat of the bike after she slid off of it and looked up at the school with amused brown eyes.

And that was how the rumor spread that Elena Gilbert was having some kind of rebellious outbreak.

Later as everyone was murmuring about how Elena had been caught out front on a 'smoking blue motorbike', the real bike's owner, Alana Gilbert was getting herself re-registered at the front office. It was a tedious process, made all the harder given the fact that no one really remembered that the Gilberts had had another child.

"Look, lady. All of my transcripts are right here. They're even signed and everything. And if you _really_ don't believe that they're authentic then you can even get in touch with the people who signed them using this number," Alana told the receptionist, trying to keep her tone polite and even. She received the stank-eye anyways, but that could have been because she was jabbing impatiently at the documents spread out before her.

The lady eyed her suspiciously, her lips pursed but even she couldn't deny the facts that were staring her dead in the face.

"Find then, Ms. _Gilbert_ ," the black woman finally gave in with an annoyed sigh. She then waved her hand impatiently toward the back wall. "Why don't you sit down over there while I get your schedule in order?"

Alana let a terse smile flit onto her face before she whirled around and walked toward the back of the small room. She threw herself down into the chair, crossing her leather-clad legs as she leaned back. Shifting around for a few moments, she finally slouched down into a semi-comfortable position. As she waited she tapped out a beat on the hood of her helmet and looked around the room.

Not much had changed in the year that she had been gone. There was still a mass of plants gathered in a corner, the chairs were the same worn plastic that could never be comfortable, and the receptionist was still an irritable bitch.

And to think Alana had actually started to miss the place.

Sighing, Alana thought back to her little room at the motel in town. It was unreasonable to stay there and she knew she should have gone straight home when she had officially gotten back two days ago, but something had stopped her. Now she was wondering if it was her dramatic side that wanted to make some kind of big entrance – and what better way than to show up on the first day of classes and confuse everyone into thinking they were seeing double.

"Ms. Gilbert," the receptionist called, drawing Alana's attention. Alana stood and approached the desk only to have some papers shoved into her face. "I'm sure you know where everything is," the lady said and then went back to clacking away at her laptop.

Alana rolled her eyes at the rude behavior and strolled out of the room without even a thank you. Not that the woman would have noticed seeing as she was just _so_ interested in whatever it was on the computer.

Humming quietly to herself, Alana left the tiny office and went in search of her locker – from the numbers scrawled on the top of her schedule it was probably somewhere on the other side of the school.

Great. Alana just hoped that her classes were near it. It would suck to be stuck carrying around a bunch of textbooks because her locker was so far away.

Alana had just located her locker and was trying to shove her helmet inside when she felt a pair of eyes boring into her back. She looked around curiously, noticing the really hot guy making a beeline toward her. She froze for a moment, her palms sweating a little bit at the sight of him.

He was really gorgeous – like supermodel gorgeous. He had the whole broody look and chiseled jaw thing going for him. His shoulders were super broad, like a football player, and he was a little on the short side standing at about five ten maybe.

Alana pegged him as the Prince Charming type, which wasn't _her_ type but she could look anyways, right? And as he got closer, she noticed that his eyes were an intense kind of green. And boy was Alana an eyes person.

Shoving her fangirl thoughts aside, Alana pasted a polite smile on her face and arched her brow questioningly.

"Elena," the hottie greeted and Alana's entire face fell. Of course, this guy thought she was Elena, why else would he come up to her. Well damn, she hadn't even been here five minutes and already someone was mistaking her. Talk about a complete mood killer.

Then again, no one exactly knew she was back.

For a moment Alana wondered what she was doing. Why had she come back to this stupid town again? And then Elena's words rolled through her mind.

 _I_ need _you here. Please come back._

Sighing quietly to herself, Alana turned back to her locker and settled for ignoring the hottie. She slowly gathered her things, consulting her schedule to find out which books she needed, and then turned to head to her first class.

"Whoa!" Hottie stepped smoothly into Alana's way, an amused expression on his square face. Alana noticed the casual way he held himself; the cocky tilt of his head as if he were looking down on her, and she started reconsidering his Prince Charming classification. Her mother always told her not to judge a book by its cover.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, my class," Alana said in a 'duh' tone and moved to walk around the guy. He was a persistent one, however, simply sliding into her way once more. Alana glared up at him.

"We went over this already, Elena. Class is this way." He pointed in the opposite direction Alana was supposed to be headed.

"No," Alana said in a tone that suggested she was talking to someone memory impaired. "My class is that way. But thanks for trying to be helpful," she finished sarcastically. She then moved around him with a mocking pat on the shoulder. Before she could get very far, the guy's arm shot out and he wrapped his thick fingers around her tiny wrist.

Alana stared at the hottie-turned-creep's hand and then followed it up to his face, a disgusted look coming onto hers. She wondered vaguely how Elena even knew this douche bag and if her twin was in any kind of trouble.

"Elena you really don't want to make me any more irritated with you. This is for your own good," the guy was saying, sounding so sure of himself that Alana wondered what planet he lived on because his ego was entirely too huge to fit on Earth.

"Look," Alana said slowly, turning so that she was facing him and so that her arm wasn't twisted into a weird position. "I don't know who the hell you are or what the hell you're talking about. What I do know is that you can't take a hint. So I'm going to try this one more time." Here Alana pasted her most polite smile on her face and said in an overly sugary voice, "Let go of me or I will plant my fist into your face."

The creep blinked for a few seconds before a smirk made its way onto his annoyingly perfect face.

"Come now, Elena. We both know you won't hit me," the guy said, his fingers tightening threateningly around her wrist. Alana winced at the spike of pain that shot up her arm and then gritted her teeth in anger.

That's it, she thought. She didn't care how pretty this guy was, she wasn't afraid to bloody up his perfect little nose.

Resolved now, Alana dropped her bag on the floor with a satisfying thump. Then she twisted her body expertly so that her leg was lifted into the air. It was only a lot of practice and experience with creepy jerks that allowed Alana to land the kick to the guy's face even though he was holding onto her wrist.

The guy lets go of her, falling on his ass in shock. His hand flew to his face where he cupped his nose. He stared up at Alana with a shocked expression. Alana was pleased to see a little blood dripping down his chin.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alana apologized in that same overly sweet voice. "Did I say my fist? I guess I really meant my _foot_."

With that said Alana strolled off to her Math class, feeling significantly better now that she had let off some steam. Boy was it fun knocking cocky bastards down a few pegs, and she hoped she did Elena a favor.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls' Spirit Squad**

 **Back-to-School Bonfire**

The bright cheerful text on the flyer courtesy of one Caroline Forbes almost had Alana cringing away from the advertisement. Unfortunately, the little flyer was the only clue she had on where her mysteriously vanishing family was – at least the sibling part.

She'd gone by the house after school, only to find no one home. She'd thought about hanging around until someone stopped by but it didn't help that she didn't have a key anymore. She had assumed that at least Aunt Jenna would be around to welcome her home since she hadn't had the luck of running into any of her siblings at school. She had no such luck this time, however, and so she had spent the better part of the day wandering the town.

Now that night had fallen, she hoped she would have better luck. Now that she was figuratively 'outed', she really wanted her own bed and not that cardboard the motel had the nerve to call a mattress.

The sound of music and laughter drifted to Alana from where she was standing at the border of the woods where the grass met the pavement of the school parking lot. Peering through the trees she could spot the blazing fire from the bonfire that gave light to the scene. Bodies twisted about, some people were dancing, but really it was just a group of kids hanging out in the middle of the woods.

For a moment Alana questioned the sense behind it – that's what New York did to a person. It had people questioning all the things they had thought were normal before.

But this was Mystic Falls and this is what the kids did for fun in this small town.

Taking a deep breath, Alana went to join the fray.

It was easy to mingle in with the teenage populace of Mystic Falls now when they were all drunk or high . . . or both. No one really gave her much trouble.

She snagged up a red Solo cup that was luckily already filled with beer with a grin and a half-sung, "I love you red Solo cup." Alana hummed the rest of the song as she weaved her way through the crowd trying to spot a familiar face.

"Elena! Hey," a voice called out in Alana's direction. On reflect Alana turned around, venomous words on the tip of her tongue. That is until she saw that it was Jeremy, her adorable baby brother, calling out to her. Boy, had he grown! Where those muscles or was he buying his shirts two sizes too small to make it look like he had muscles?

Jeremy came to a stop before Alana, panting slightly and looked her up and down. As he took in her outfit – her signature leather pants and a nice purple corset top – his expression turned into one of confusion.

"Did you change clothes," he questioned but Alana could hear the real question in his tone. 'What the hell are you wearing?'

Alana looked down at herself, wondering if she was dressed that differently from her sister. Besides the leather pants – and possibly the bulky combat boots – she didn't think so.

"No, I did not change clothes," Alana told him in a snippy tone. "And these pants match the leather jacket I just bought. I'm _so_ sorry that you don't like them."

Jeremy blinked, looking even more confused. Alana could practically hear his mind whirling around as he took in her words. It took him a moment, but after a careful study of her face and a couple of shakes of his head, realization seemed to hit him.

"Alana," he cheered with the excitement Alana had been hoping for. Jeremy immediately moved forward and pulled her into a crushing hug, sloshing a little bit of beer down the back of her shirt.

"Hey, watch it," Alana laughed, pulling away so that she could look at him more closely. Yup, those were definitely muscles. "I see puberty treated someone kindly," she noted impishly.

"Well." Jeremy blushed at that and rubbed at that the back of his head sheepishly. "Hey, when did you get back?"

"A couple of days ago, but I decided to surprise you guys at school today. Only for some reason, I couldn't find anyone." Here Alana arched a brow questioningly but Jeremy just shrugged.

"Really? I was actually there all day," he said, and the way he said 'actually' suggested to Alana that he wasn't always there. She stored this information away for a later time. "We probably just missed each other."

Alana nodded in agreement, taking a casual sip of her beer and her face twisted a little. The taste wasn't all that and she really could have done without it, but at a party like this, you were hard pressed to get the good expensive clear liquor. It was times like these that she missed hanging with Blade the most.

"So, where is everyone else," Alana questioned casually, taking another sip of her beer and trying to bite back the taste it left on her tongue. "I stopped by the house today but no one was there. I thought at least Aunt Jen would be around."

A shadow passed over Jeremy's face making him look suddenly younger. Dread washed through Alana's body, effectively killing the happy buzz she had gotten from seeing her brother. The expression on Jeremy's face was the same look he had had when he had been standing in front of their parents' grave.

"What happened?" Alana's voice even sounded full of dread.

"A lot, Lana," Jeremy said in a quiet tone, the childhood nickname making him appear even younger. His head was bowed but he was taller now and so all Alana had to do was tilt her head a little to get a better look at his expression.

The tears gathering in his eyes coupled with the look of eternal sadness damn near tore Alana apart.

"Look," Jeremy said after taking a calming breath, "there's so much you've missed this year, Lana, that I'm not even sure where to start."

"Alright." Alana also took in a deep calming breath. "Let's go find El and then head home so we can talk about it, okay. I'll meet you in the parking lot?"

Jeremy nodded and then headed off in search of his other sister.

Alana was the one that found Elena first and she damn near lost her mind when she did.

There was her sweet twin Elena . . .

. . . trapped in a burning car.

This sure as hell wasn't turning out to be the happy welcome back she had been expecting.

"Holy shit," Alana cursed, running toward the burning vehicle, although she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do to get her sister out of it. Stopping to think for a minute, she started looking around for something to use to break one of the windows. She had just spotted a crowbar and was going to pick it up when the trunk of the car literally flew off, sliding a good distance across the parking lot.

Alana's mouth gapped and all she could do was stand there, hands hanging limply at her side and stare in shock.

A man that Alana guessed was a teacher because she had seen him earlier around school ran around to the back of the truck, not looking the least bit alarmed that the back door had flown off of it. Alana watched in numbed silence as he helped Elena out of the car. And then they both turned back and dragged the body of that hottie-turn-creep out of the trunk.

Once they were a good distance from the wreckage, the car exploded into a ball of glass and flames – and even then the flames continued to lick at the metal frame.

Alana raised her hands to protect her face from the heat all the while trying to piece together the events that had just passed.

"What the hell is going on," she demanded when she couldn't make head-nor-tails of the situation.

All three heads snapped toward her. Alana could see the confusion on the new teacher and hottie-creep's face but that quickly morphed into hostility. Alana blinked, trying to think of a reason as to why they would look at her that way – well she could guess at why the hottie-creep would hate her, but not the new teacher.

But it was Elena who had the most interesting reaction.

Her face went entirely pale and her expression shifted from confusion to fear to anger and then finally settled on shock. Alana was a little hurt that Elena wasn't a little happier to see her, but she pushed aside her emotions for the moment.

" _El_ ," Alana demanded in her most commanding tone, her eyebrows arched as she waited for someone to tell her what had just happened.

At the sound of the nickname that only the two of them used, Elena's whole body jerked forward.

And then she was running toward Alana.

Alana managed to brace herself right before Elena's arms flew around her.

"You're back," her twin sang, her arms wrapping around Alana's shoulders in a strangle hold. "You're finally back!"

There was that excitement. Alana smiled smugly for a moment before it turned into worry when she noticed that Elena was now crying into her shoulder. Bawling actually, like a newborn baby.

Alana immediately started rocking her and patting her on the back in a calming manner. She was still completely confused over the whole situation, what with the burning car and the hostile looks and the crying sister – it was enough to make anyone confused.

After a long moment of tense silence, in which Elena's tears finally subsided into sniffles, the teacher guy spoke up.

"Um . . . I think we should probably get out of here." He was gazing at the burning remains of what Alana could only assume was his car – given that he looked a little like someone had killed his puppy.

Well, that sucked. Alana wasn't sure what she'd do if her bike went up in flames.

"Good idea," Alana spoke up in agreement. "So, it was nice meeting you all," and here her tone turned slightly sarcastic especially when directed at the hottie-creep, "but we gotta run. According to my baby bro, I've got a lot to catch up on. See ya."

The teacher's gaze shot to Alana's face at her words and for a moment he looked panicked. Alana however, didn't care. She turned around, Elena still cradled in her arms, and started making her way back toward the main parking lot. Her head was still spinning a little bit and she wanted to get Elena to safety.

"Wait," Elena protested, pulling herself away from Alana's body. "I can't go home yet. There's something I have to do first," she explained at Alana's confused expression. "Why don't you go ahead and I'll meet you there."

Alana arched a brow, looking her twin over and taking in the familiar face marred with tears and a burn mark on her left cheek.

"Okay," Alana drawled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "But you must be delusional from smoke inhalation if you think I'm about to let you out of my sight after you almost got barbecued."

Elena blinked, looking a little stunned. Alana was actually hurt that her words came as a surprise to her twin. Had she really been gone that long that Elena questioned the bond they had and how deep her concern for her other half was?

"I _really_ don't think that's—"

"I'm going wherever you go. No questions asked," Alana cut in sternly, sounding like the older sister for once. Elena blinked again before she sighed and nodded her acceptance of the situation.

"That's what I thought. So," Alana said, as she began nudging Elena so that she was walking again, "why don't you lead the way to your car and we'll get a move on."

"What about your car," Elena questioned as she led the group back toward a more civilized area. Alana almost missed her question because she was currently having a staring contest with the hottie-creep. He was staring at her as if she was some kind of puzzle. Alana was sure that he was wondering if it had been her that had kicked him in the face.

"I don't have a car," Alana told Elena, snapping her gaze back to her twin.

"Then how'd you get back into town? Did someone drop you off?"

"Naw, I have a different form of transportation," Alana said vaguely, a smirk coming onto her face. But it was quickly wiped away when she thought about leaving her baby on campus. "And I probably shouldn't leave it here. Which means, you're gonna have to tell me where we're going and I'll have to meet you there."

It was Elena's turn to arch a brow questioningly.

"Why don't I ride with you to show you the way?"

Alana thought Elena's question over, pushing her hair behind her ear unconsciously. She looked her sister over, taking in her slightly trembling form and the paleness of her skin.

"I think . . . it would be safer if you were in a closed vehicle. Maybe next time?" Elena opened her mouth to protest. "El. Just trust me on this."

"Fine," Elena huffed, giving in. "We're going to the Salvatore boarding house."

"The Salvatore boarding house," Alana repeated slowly. Since when did Elena hang out with Zach, the town's recluse? "Any reason _why_?"

"I'll tell you later," Elena said evasively, gazing determinedly straight ahead.

"Oh-kay," Alana drawled, letting the matter go for now. She was sure to get the whole truth from her sister later. After all, Elena never kept secrets from her.

The group had finally reached the parking lot now and Alana immediately spotted Jeremy's silhouette leaning against Elena's Ford Escape.

"Hey there Jer. Guess who I found in a flaming car," Alana called out with false cheer.

"Elena? What happened," Jeremy demanded, rushing to her side. He lifted his hand to touch the burn mark on Elena's face before turning to look at the teacher guy. "Ric?"

"You know, I'm not a hundred percent sure," the man said. "One minute everything's fine and the next my car's exploding."

Jeremy's brows knitted together in confusion, and his eyes trailed over the group but no one was able to provide him with any answers.

"Listen, Elena has to go do something at the Salvatore boarding house, so you can head on home without us," Alana said before more questions could be asked. Jeremy looked over at Elena with a significant look and a spike of irritation shot through Alana's body.

So Jeremy was in on this. Was she the only one in the dark?

"Uh. Sure. I have to take Matt home anyways," and then Jeremy was walking away before Alana could grill him for information. Alana glared at his back then turned her glare onto Elena, but her twin wasn't meeting her gaze.

"Fine," she said sullenly. "I guess I'll see you in a bit."

With that said, Alana stormed over to her bike.

* * *

Alana sped the entire way to the Salvatore boarding house, the wind whipping fiercely at her body and the trees speeding quickly by her eyes. It was a freeing sense for the older twin and exactly what she needed to calm her raging emotions.

It wasn't hard for Alana to find the boarding house, although she had never been to it. The once popular tourist visit was the only place about three miles out from the main part of town, closer toward Wickery Bridge.

It was a magnificent structure, was Alana's first thought as she pulled around the roundabout. From what she could make out in the dim lighting it was nice and large. It was easy to see why people used to frequent the place, but it was hard for her to see one guy living here by himself. She imagined that it would get lonely after a while.

Alana cut the engine and kicked down the kickstand allowing the bike to fall at a slant. She took off her helmet, shaking out her hair before turning to stare up at the boarding house. Since she had sped she had arrived ahead of Elena. She was prepared to wait for her sister, but that plan was blown out of the water when the front door of the house flew open.

Alana whipped her head around, expecting to see Zach Salvatore. Who she saw instead was definitely better than the grouchy man that had gone to school with her parents.

Alana was sure she was looking at the hottest man on the Earth. Okay, maybe that was stretching it, but boy was the guy sexy. Alana never thought she would actually use the phrase sex-on-legs, but this guy was definitely it.

He practically oozed sex with his wicked mouth, sex-me dark hair, and slouchy swagger. Alana could make out nice ropy muscles under his t-shirt and she definitely appreciated the way his jeans hung low on his hips. His body was long and lean and Alana desperately wanted to run her hands down it. If the hottie-creep had been well hot, this guy was scorching. He made Alana want in a way that Alana had never wanted before. She was pretty sure he could talk a man-hating lesbian into his bed – so really Alana couldn't be blamed for being so lustful. And boy was she lusting. This guy made her think very bad thoughts, very bad thoughts indeed.

"Hey, how'd the plan go," the sex god called out to her, stopping at the stairs. There were a good five feet between them and Alana watched in amusement when the guy did a double take as he took in the fact that she was currently straddling a bike. The sex god arched a brow, which made Alana practically salivate.

"Where'd you get that?"

Alana blinked before mentally shaking the dirty thoughts from her head. But before she could come up with some kind of response, Elena's headlights flashed over her, blinding her for a moment.

The two turned to watch Elena pull up and Alana could practically hear the click in the sex god's head as it occurred to him that she was not the person he had thought she was. She was going to turn and introduced herself, but it was pointless.

In the second it took Alana to realize what was happening, the sex god had her by the throat and was pressing her up against the front door. Alana gasped and tried to blink the stars from her eyes from where her head had collided harshly with the wood of the door, but it was hard to drag in any air what with the strangle hold the guy had on her throat.

"What the hell," she just managed to choke out, scratching at the hands pressing into her neck. Dots were already appearing in her vision from lack of oxygen and her head was swimming dizzily.

"What are you doing here Katherine," the psycho demanded on a low growl, leaning into her threatening. Alana got a good look at a pair of intense blue eyes before her vision blanked. Blinded now, she gagged and started kicking her feet wildly hoping to get in a hit.

"Damon, no," she heard Elena yell and then she could suddenly breathe again. Alana dropped hard onto her knees, gulping in air greedily and then coughing when it scratched at her bruised trachea. Air had never tasted so sweet.

A moment later she could feel thin arms warp around her and knew it to be her sister.

"You okay," Elena murmured lowly, rubbing at Alana's arms and patting her reassuringly on the back. Alana swallowed thickly before getting shakily to her feet.

The psycho sex god was still glaring at her, looking between her and Elena warily, but he didn't look like he'd attack.

That didn't mean Alana wouldn't.

Before Elena could even think to stop her, Alana pulled back her fist and landed a solid right hook straight into the psycho's face. Sadly he was so tall that she missed her mark and instead it landed on his jaw, but it did its job.

The man stumbled back a little from the force, grabbing his jaw in shock. Shock which quickly morphed into anger and Alana was pretty sure he would have hit her or something if that Ric guy didn't jump forward and grab onto him.

"I don't know who the hell these people are El," Alana spat, rubbing at her neck and wincing at the soreness there. "But I'm getting real tired of being manhandled."

"I'm so sorry about this. It's all just a big misunderstanding," Elena tried to explain.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alana shrugged off Elena's restraining hand and glared hatefully at the psycho. It was a shame he was crazy because the guy was seriously hot. And to think just seconds ago she had been thinking wonderful lustful thoughts about him. "Just do your big important business thing or whatever it was that you needed to do."

"Oh right. Um, I just needed to – to drop Stefan home," and here Elena waved her hand in the hottie-creep's direction. So the creep had a name?

"This big mystery thing you had to do is to drop this creep home," Alana asked dubiously, drawing a glare from said creep.

"Creep," Elena asked instead of answering.

Alana simply shrugged before turning to look at the guy Elena had called Stefan.

"How's the nose," she asked cheekily. "I see I didn't manage to break it. Shame that." Stefan's jaw dropped at her words before he narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

"You're the one who kicked me in the face?"

"Guilty," Alana sang, and she couldn't help the shit-eating grin that split her face. "Who'd you think I was? Elena?" This drew a snicker from the psycho and Alana turned to look at him with contempt. "Oh, don't laugh. I got you too. I guess it's not too much of a stretch to assume you two are related."

The grin left the psycho's face.

"Oh, um, Al, this is Stefan's older brother, Damon Salvatore," Elena jumped to introduce, if only to diffuse the angry tension. "They both moved here after you left."

"I got as much."

"Uh, and this is the new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman," Elena tried again, directing Alana's attention to the guy Jeremy had called Ric. So far he was the only one Alana liked, and that was probably because he hadn't tried to attack her yet. She was holding reservations out on him, however.

"Guys this is my twin sister, Alana."

"You never mentioned you had a twin," the psycho – Damon, Elena had called him – said in an accusing tone. He was staring at Alana with a speculative look as if she were some interesting specimen in an exhibit.

"Well I really don't see why that's any of your business," Alana snapped, moving into Damon's face and baring her teeth. Damon looked down at her in amusement as if she were some small child clamoring for attention. Then he shifted his gaze to Elena and some secret message that Alana couldn't decipher passed between them.

"Al," Elena said in a warning tone, pulling on Alana's arm. Alana glared up at Damon a moment more before backing off. But the anger that had gripped her didn't leave. All that speeding had turned out to be a waste.

"And you, El," she said, turning on her twin with a softer glare but a glare none the less. "You are a horrible liar. So why don't you start telling me why we're really here?"

Elena shifted nervously, biting at her bottom lip as her gaze drifted away. She was looking at one of the guys behind Alana, conversing with her eyes.

Alana growled lowly.

She was really getting sick and tired of all the significant looks being passed around. Would it kill someone to just say something to her?

Moving forward even more, Alana stepped in front of Elena fully, shattering her twin's silent conversation and forcing the younger girl to look at just her.

"Are you keeping secrets from me, El?" Alana winced a little when instead of the steady tone she had been going for, her voice held all the hurt and confusion she was feeling. Instead of mulling on it, Alana pressed on. "Why are you keeping things from me? You never used to before. What changed?"

Elena's face seemed to crumple at the accusation and Alana almost buckled.

Almost.

"Ally," Elena pleaded, using the childhood nickname that usually soothed Alana. She even reached out and placed her hand on Alana's arm as if trying to placate her.

"No," Alana refused, shrugging the hand off angrily. "I'm not backing down." She gazed deeply at Elena, her eyes searching for some kind of answer. She couldn't find one, but she staggered back anyways when a sudden thought struck her.

"Is this because I _left_?"

Elena's brow crinkled in confusion and her mouth dropped open but no words came out. That was all Alana needed to continue on this train of thought.

"It is, isn't it? You're punishing me because I left. Why? You know why I had to leave, El. You know how miserable I was here."

Tears were starting to pool in Alana's eyes and she wiped at them furiously. She could feel the burning gazes of the Salvatore brothers and Alaric and she hated the fact that these _strangers_ were witnessing her like this. She never liked getting emotional in public – it was so . . . embarrassing.

"You know what. Whatever," Alana spat, not allowing Elena to defend herself. Her voice was bitter now and just the slightest bit sarcastic. "Keep your secrets. I'll just . . . just go home and catch up with Jer and Aunt Jen."

The rage was all-consuming now, clouding Alana's mind and spiraling her into action. She started heading back toward her bike, but as she was turning away she caught the look of utter despair that was plastered on Elena's face.

Like a bolt of lightning struck her, Alana froze. Fear clawed its way up her chest and squeezed her heart with its icy hands. The same dread that had filled her when she had been talking to Jeremy came upon her now, and she turned slowly toward her sister with wide eyes.

"What happened," she whispered. Her mind spiraled as she tried to think of a reason for the expression on her sister's face. It took a moment to click, and then she made the correlation between her words and the look.

"Elena," Alana demanded, her voice more desperate now. It was Aunt Jenna. She knew it was. They only looked like this when Aunt Jenna was mentioned. Oh God. "What. Happened?" Alana enunciated each word, her panic spiking.

The tears came slowly, big fat drops dripping from Elena's eyes and sliding down her face.

"Oh Alana," Elena whispered, and she looked so _sad_ that Alana felt as if her heart was breaking. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

"Aunt Jenna's dead."

Alana's mouth dropped open to form a little 'oh'. She blinked repeatedly and she stumbled backward a little. Someone caught her before she could fall, but Alana couldn't tell whose arms it was that wrapped around her. She could feel her lips forming the question 'What?', but she couldn't hear her own words over the roaring in her ears.

And then everything snapped back into sharp focus.

She could hear Elena calling her name over and over again. She could hear the rustling of the trees surround her. She could hear the chirping of the crickets and the buzzing of the flies.

Blinking slowly, Alana noticed that somehow she had ended up in the arms of Damon. She couldn't even summon up any of her anger from before. He was holding her up at an angle and Elena was peering worriedly into her face – her own face was blotchy and red with tears.

"Alana, are you okay," Elena was asking.

Alana didn't answer at first. She struggled to stand on her own, and Damon let her go, but he kept a steadying hand on her elbow. Alana barely notices it, she looked around at all the faces staring her. And then she proclaiming loudly, "I need a drink."

Alana sat curled up on the couch in the living room of the boarding house, a warm cup of whiskey cradled in her hands. She had drained the first glass in one go but had been staring blankly down at the cup since Damon had refilled it.

Alana could feel everyone's eyes on her – everyone that is except Stefan, who had run off somewhere with a careless shrug. Alana had been glad, she didn't like an audience and one less person hanging around was one less watching.

"How did she die," Alana finally asked, looking up and locking eyes with Elena, who was sitting on the couch next to her.

Alana knew Elena was going to lie before the words even left her mouth. It was the little tells Elena had but didn't know about – the slight arching of her brow, the quick shifting of her eyes, the twitching of her left ear.

"It was an animal attack in the woods."

Alana's eyes slid away and she took a careful sip of the whiskey, enjoying the comforting burn as it went smoothly down her throat. She stared at the fire that was crackling away merrily in the large fireplace.

"You're lying to me," she accused in a calm tone as if she was commenting on the weather.

Elena shifted slightly, her eyes darting to look at Damon for help. Alana felt the anger from before bubbling up under her skin, but she just took another swig from her glass.

"Look here, Snippy," Damon suddenly spoke up, urged on by Elena's pleading look. "Your aunt had a terrible accident and it's not fair of —"

"I wasn't talking to you," Alana cut him off, fiddling with her glass and still staring into the fireplace. In her peripheral she saw Damon bristle but a sharp glance from Elena had him backing down. He snorted irritably before moving over to the decanter of whiskey and pouring himself a glass.

"Alana."

Alana turned to look at Elena, her brow raised in a questioning manner. Elena shifted closer to her on the couch and reached out and grabbed one of Alana's hands.

"You have to trust me here."

"How can you ask me to trust you when everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie," Alana demanded, her anger finally rising to the surface. "How can you sit there and tell me that Aunt Jen is dead and then have the nerve to lie to my face about how she died? Don't I have the right to know so that I can mourn her properly? Or is it because I wasn't here that I don't deserve to know the truth?"

Elena flinched back from the words, her expression hangdog. For once, Alana didn't care.

"Do you want to know why I can back," she asked furiously and Elena nodded her head slowly. "I came back because you asked me to. Do you remember that?"

"No," Elena whispered, her doe-brown eyes wide.

"On our birthday I came into town to leave you a gift, just like I did when we turned seventeen. I wanted to see how you were holding up. And that night while you were half asleep you begged me to come back. You told me you _needed_ me. And so here I am. For you. And you can't even tell me the truth."

Alana snatched her hand back, curling further into herself and sipping at her whiskey. She knew she was being mean but the hurt she was feeling was just too much. She didn't want to be nice. Not when the one person she thought she could trust above everyone else was lying to her.

Elena looked as if she had been slapped. For a moment she didn't seem to know what to say, and then a look of determination slipped onto her face. Alana watched her with mild curiosity, still sipping at her alcohol that was tempering her emotions.

"I'm going to tell her," Elena said, speaking to Damon and Alaric. "Everything."

"Fine by me," Damon said nonchalantly, shrugging as if he hadn't a care in the world. He was on his second glass of whiskey already, drinking it down like an expert.

"I think that's a smart decision," Alaric agreed from where he was seated in the chair next to them. "Especially given the circumstances. She had a right to know."

"I wasn't aware that El needed permission to tell me anything. And certainly not from you two," Alana said in an annoyed tone, but she was ignored for the most part.

"Ally," Elena began, moving once more to take one of Alana's hands. Her expression was unnaturally somber and Alana frowned at the serious tone.

"What I'm about to tell you will change all your beliefs about the world."

Alana arched a brow, looking skeptical.

And so Elena told her everything, from start to finish. And all Alana could do was sit there and listen to what sounded like a pretty awesome and tragic story. When Elena was finally finished, Alana had gone through two more glasses of whiskey and Damon had had twice that amount.

For a long moment, Alana stared at Elena dubiously.

"Let me get this straight," she finally said after taking a deep breath. "The Salvatores are vampires. Caroline is a vampire. Bonnie is a witch. Mr. Saltzman is some kind of vampire hunter with a ring that keeps him from being killed by supernaturals. And we're some kind of Petrova doppelganger?" She said all this with an expression of deep disbelief.

"It's all true," Elena said in a desperate voice.

"Oh, I can tell that you believe this is all true," Alana agreed readily. She had been watching Elena closely looking for those pesky little tells, and she was a little bit shocked to find none. "But I'm gonna need some proof."

"You want proof," Damon questioned, jumping into what Alana had considered was a private conversation between her and her sister. "Here's your proof."

He drained the rest of his drink and set it down on top of the mantle of the fireplace. Instantly he was inches away from Alana's face. Alana watched in absolute fascination as Damon's facial features changed. Dark veins wriggled their way under the skin around his eyes and blood red inked its way over the whites of his eyes. Then Damon opened his mouth, showing off an impressive pair of large fangs.

Slowly the features retreated until Alana was left staring into Damon's intense ice-blue eyes.

"Well, that's certainly impressive," Alana breathed and a quick smirk slipped onto Damon's handsome face. She could feel that lust from before surging up inside of her and she angrily stomped it down. Now was not the time to be thinking dirty things.

"I aim to please," Damon replied silkily still smirking as if had heard her thoughts. He pulled away from her slowly and Alana felt her entire body heat up. In the next moment, Damon was walking back to the fireplace to make himself another drink.

"O-okay," Alana said shakily after a moment, and she hoped they would all write her stutter off as fear and not attraction. Clearing her throat she continued, "So vampires are real and all that." She still sounded a little incredulous and felt the need to add, "But I still find it hard to believe that you dated that douche upstairs."

An irritated look flashed cross Elena's face now and Alana felt a small sense of accomplishment at getting a rise out of her sister.

"Stefan isn't like that really," Elena tried to explain again. "He's only acting this way because Klaus compelled him to turn off his emotions."

"Right," Alana drawled, swirling the amber liquid around in her glass. "And Klaus is this super powerful vampire-werewolf hybrid that wants to use your blood to create a vampire-werewolf hybrid army?"

"Say that five times fast," Damon muttered sarcastically.

Elena glared at him.

"Yes, which is why I didn't want to tell you at first. Since you're my twin it's only safe to assume that you're also a doppelganger. Which means that Klaus probably won't think twice about using you."

"As if I'm going to let this guy use me," Alana scoffed and waved away Elena's worries. "Anyways, Klaus is the one that killed Aunt Jenna, right?"

"Yeah. He turned her into a vampire so that he could use her in the sacrifice to unlock his werewolf side."

Alana's eyes slanted at Elena and for a moment she stared at her twin before heaving a deep sigh and leaning back into the couch.

"You do realize that this all sounds very fantasy-book like right? Well except for the whole girl-gets-the-guy thing, because that part is obviously not working out for any of you all."

Alaric visibly winced at this jab and Alana felt instant remorse. He was the only one that she wasn't irritated with so far.

"My bad, Mr. Saltzman."

Alaric waved her apology away.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a strained sigh. "And please. Call me Alaric or Ric. I am living in your house after all."

Right. She had forgotten about that.

Frowning deeply, Alana dropped her gaze to the glass in her hand. She played around with it for a while as she let all this information sink it.

It was a lot to wrap her head around to be honest.

It wasn't every day that she found out her sister was dating a vampire and her little brother had been brought back from the dead.

That thought brought about another question.

"Did you say that Jer was seeing ghosts," Alana asked, looking back up at Elena with a wrinkled nose. Elena's expression mirrored her twins at the question.

"Yes, he's been seeing the ghost of his past girlfriends – Anna and Vicki."

"Vicki Donavan, Matt's sister who was turned into a vampire and then staked," Alana clarified and Elena nodded. "And Anna who was a vampire in the eighteen-hundreds?"

"Yeah. This seeing ghost-thing is supposed to be a consequence from when Bonnie brought him back to life. Apparently bringing him back defied some rule or something."

"Sounds more like a perk to me," Alana mumbled and then asked louder, "And how did Jeremy die again?"

"Chief Forbes accidently shot him when she was trying to capture Damon."

"Uh-huh." Alana sighed, dropping her head against her knees. She held out her cup and said, in a muffled voice, "I'm gonna need another one of these."


End file.
